A Game of Gnomes

A Game of Gnomes Rulebook

Table of Contents

A. Components

Board
Gnome Mountain
Tiles:
- Village tiles (A-L)
- Shop tiles (x3)
- Gnome house tiles (x4)
Timing track
Gnome timers (one each in red, yellow, blue and green)
Gnomes (x4)
Montane King mushrooms (x4)
Frog hopper
Tunnel door
Frozen tokens
Winter tower
Golden mushrooms
Calendar timer
Wooden mushrooms (10 each of red, yellow and blue)

B. Setup

Place the board to the top middle of the table.
Place the mountain on the space marked on the board. Go "ooh" and "ahh" for 15 minutes.
Place the Montane King mushrooms depending on the number of players as shown to the right. (2 players: 2 mushrooms; 3 players: 3 mushrooms; 4 players: 4 mushrooms.)
For your first game, place the location tiles on the board as indicated. If it is not your first game, shuffle the location tiles and randomly place one onto each location on the board.
Place the Calendar Timer on the blue mushroom at the start of the Calendar track.
Place the Timing track beside the board where indicated.
Place the 3 shop cards beside the board.
Shuffle the canteen, the short axe and the hill boots cards and place one randomly in each shop.
Remove the 8 treasure cards from the other shop cards and set them aside.
Shuffle the remaining shop cards and then draw an additional 3 equipment cards for each shop (so each has a total of 4 cards for sale).
Shuffle the treasure cards in with the shop cards that were not drawn. Place this face down to form a shop item draw deck.
Shuffle the travel cards. Make 3 piles of 1, 2 and 3 cards - these are the dream cards. Place the remainder in a draw deck beside the board (this is the travel card draw deck).
Place a blue mushroom on each of the eight location tiles with a blue mushroom symbol.
Place the yellow mushrooms beside number 13 on the timer track. Place the frog-riding gnome beside this.
Place the red mushrooms beside number 25 on the track.
Place the frozen tokens onto 37 on the track. Place the Winter Tower to the right.
Place a brown, green and white nugget onto each village (A-L). These all have names and a coloured (non-white) border. Shops and gnome houses DO NOT have any jewels put on them (white border).

You are now ready to begin. The player at the top of the timer track (the last player to choose their gnome) will go first. The player underneath this will take their turn next, and so on.

Gems

Gems are the game's currency. Players may exchange gems for an equal value of gems from the stock at any time (to make change). e.g. 1 white gem is worth 3 brown gems.

Gem values: Brown = 1, Green = 2, White = 3.

Equipment

Unlike travel cards, a player's equipment is placed face up in front of them (although treasure cards will go into a player's hand). A player starts with four pieces of equipment, but may get more from the shops. The starting equipment items are explained below.

Tiny Basket (discard after buying a small or large basket): allows the player to carry one mushroom.
Tiny Rucksack (discard after buying a small or large rucksack): allows the player to keep a hand size of 4 at the end of the round.
Tunnel Key (discard after use): allows a player to move his gnome from Grifola to Hydnum (or vice versa) without using any time.
Pond Pipes (discard after use): the player swaps their gnome for the frog hopper for this round. Whilst riding the frog, a player may complete any route using any one icon (including to the Sorcerer's tower, or laterally on Gnome Mountain). Only one player per round may use pond pipes. The player swaps back to their normal gnome piece at the end of the round.

C. Turn Overview (note the use of Gnomenclature)

Starting with the player whose gnome timer is on top, each player will take their turn in order. This will involve playing travel cards, moving, picking mushrooms, buying goods etc. This causes the player's gnome timer to advance on the timing track.
Once all players have had a turn the round ends.
Some gnomes will sleep and receive travel cards.
The calendar track is then adjusted to record the days that have passed. Seasons may change.
A new round begins.

On your turn you may do the following (in any order and any number of times)

You must complete an action before starting the next action.

1) Move your gnome

This will normally involve playing travel cards. These should be placed in the travel card discard pile at the end of a player's turn. The time taken in moving your gnome depends on the cards played.

Moving through meadow, forests and mountains on the board

Playing travel cards allows you to move along paths to different locations on the board. Each path has a colour which represents the type of terrain the path moves through. Yellow = meadow, brown = forest, white = mountain. You need one matching icon on a card to move from one location to another along a path e.g. a meadow card allows you to move from one village to an adjoining village through a meadowland path (yellow).

There is no limit to the number of gnomes that can be at one location on the game board.

Single travel card takes 1 week. Move gnome to the new location then move the player's gnome timer 1 week on the timing track.
Double travel card - allows you to move up to two spaces (you can choose to move just once if you wish) along a route matching the icon on the travel card. Move your gnome then move the gnome timer 2 spaces along the timing track. If you chose to move one space and stop, the extra movement for that card is lost.
Free travel card - these allow you to move once through either meadowlands, woods or mountains, but take longer in time. Move the player's gnome then move the player's gnome timer 2 weeks.
Three for free movement - if you play cards which contribute at least 3 icons, you are free to move along 1 route (note - this may be two or three cards, depending on if you play a double travel or not). Move your gnome timer piece along the timing track according to the number of timers which appear on the cards used. Note - Free travel cards contribute 1 icon, but cost two weeks to play. Nugget cards contribute an icon but have no time penalty. Theoretically you could use 3 nugget cards to move once for no time. The power of money!
Equipment movement - some equipment from the shop allows a player to move without playing cards (see equipment cards p12).

Example: Daniel moves in gnomeland

Daniel wishes to move to the village of Descina. The route is a yellow path (through meadow). He could play a single meadow card to move for only one week, but he has no meadow cards in his hand. He decides to use three for free movement. He must play three icons. He gains two from his double mountain card, and one from his nugget card. He puts the played cards into the discard pile and moves his gnome to Descina. He must now move his gnome timer according to the time on the cards played. The double mountain card takes two weeks to play, but the nugget has no time penalty. This means he moves his gnome timer up for 2 weeks (2+0) on the time tracker.

Moving on Mount Gnome (On the Hill of the Montane King!)

Reaching Mount Gnome: You reach the Mount Gnome by moving along the path on the board which connect to the mountain. Each of the 4 paths connect to one of the mountain spaces on the bottom (grass) level.

Moving along the same level: The spaces on the grass level of the mountain are treated as if they each have a meadow or woodland path between them. The spaces on the middle and top levels are treated as if they have a mountain icon between them. There is a helpful sign on the board if you forget.

There's a gnome in my way! Each space on Mount Gnome can only hold one gnome at the end of a turn. You may move through a space that contains another gnome. However, if you finish your turn on a space with another gnome, move that gnome to the space that you last moved from (even if it is from a different level). If this space is also occupied, keep displacing gnomes one space along your route until a gnome moves onto an empty space.

Example: Yellow moves two spaces and finishes his turn on the same space as green. Green has to move one space back along the yellow's route, which means he is now on the same space as red. Red is moved one space back along yellow's route.

Ascending / descending to the next level: To climb or descend the mountain you will require a map (see your local friendly shopkeeper). A map allows you to use the mountain path between the mountain spaces indicated. Movement between levels costs no time and is not considered a new action. Simply move your gnome up / down according to the map. A gnome can not move between levels if they do not have an appropriate map card. Some maps show a double route, although it may not be the most efficient. The map allows a player to move their gnome between the two spaces shown by the yellow arrow.

The Sorcerer's tower

The tower is contained within the tangled woods. Scary for a gnome! The route is indicated in black. There are no corresponding black travel cards. You will need to use three for free movement (unless you have a compass or are riding the frog).

Example: Blue moves to the Sorcerer's tower. He uses three for free movement. In this example, the cards played would mean it took him three weeks.

Moving on rivers and the lake: This can only be done either by use of a leaf boat (see your local friendly shopkeeper) or when winter comes. The leaf boat allows a player to move along the river to the next location, or across the lake to any of the lakeside locations without playing a card. This costs two weeks of time.

Remember to move your gnome timer too! Each time you move, you must adjust your gnome timer depending on what cards you played or what item you used. If you used travel cards, add up the sand timers for any cards played - this shows you how many weeks you took to move. Some items allow you to move without playing cards. These items have the time taken for each use shown on the card.

The Timer track: A player may not take an action that would cause their gnome timer to move beyond the end of the timing track (week 7). A player may choose not to use all seven weeks available on his turn. If they do this, they might gain travel cards during sleep (see section D. SLEEP).

Example: Green has played cards for a total of 4 weeks. He moves his gnome timer four spaces along the timing track. He stops on the same space as the green gnome timer and places his gnome timer on top. He does not have to end his turn now, as he still has available weeks in which to take actions.

2) Pick a mushroom (1 week)

A player may pick one mushroom from their location (including a mountain space) as long as there is a mushroom there and they have space in their basket.
The mushroom is placed onto a spare slot in their basket (existing mushrooms can not be discarded).
Their gnome timer moves on one week.
A player may only ever pick one Montane King mushroom during the entire game.

Example: Blue picks up a yellow mushroom and puts it into his basket. He moves his gnome timer along one week.

3) Sell a mushroom (0 weeks)

If you are at a village or the sorcerer's tower then you may be able to sell your mushroom(s).
The colour surrounding the tile indicates the colour of mushrooms that can be sold there (e.g. blue = blue, red/yellow = red and yellow). Basically, a village buys mushrooms that do not grow there.
The sorcerer will buy any colour of mushroom.
For each mushroom sold take 1 gem from the location. White gems are worth 3, green gems are worth 2 and brown gems are worth 1. Playtip for gnomes who are a bit slow on the uptake - we recommend taking the most valuable one.
Place the gem in front of you. You are now rich beyond your wildest dreams.
You can only sell your mushroom if there is a gem at that location (no buyer no sale!). If there are no gems left on a space then no further mushrooms can be sold there (the village is fed up eating mushrooms - you are lucky to escape with your pointy hat intact).
Any mushrooms sold are placed to the side of the board - they are NOT placed onto where they were sold.

Example: Blue sells a mushroom at a village. He may take one gem from the village - and cleverly chooses the white gem, which is worth the most. The mushroom is placed to the side of the play area.

Selling a Montane King mushroom: This works exactly the same as a normal mushroom except that as well as a gem, you also take a golden mushroom token. The Golden mushroom is worth 8 extra points at the end of the game.

4) Buy equipment / treasure at shop (0 weeks)

If you are at a shop then you are able to buy equipment or treasure cards. Unless stock is low, the shop will normally have 4 cards available.
The cost of each item is indicated in the top left of the card (in brown gems). Shopkeepers are always able to give change from the general supply of gems.
Players may also use nugget cards for, or towards, payment.
Item cards that are purchased are placed face up in front of you and can be used immediately. See Section CARDS for more details about individual cards.
Treasure cards go into your hand and count towards your hand size.
If a player upgrades their rucksack or basket, they discard their current one. If that item is a starting card it is removed from the game, otherwise it goes on the shop item discard pile.
A player may only carry up to two map cards. If a player buys a third, they add one of their map cards to that shop's stock.
At the end of a player's turn, all shops have their stock replenished to 4 cards.

Example: The large basket costs 2 to buy. A player buying the large basket would have to discard their current basket.

Notes: When buying treasure, it must be carried in your hand. There is a symbol below the cost to remind you. Nuggets can be used instead of a brown gem when buying items.

5) Restock shop (2 weeks)

If you are in a shop then you can wait 2 weeks for more stock to arrive.

Remove any cards that are in the shop's stock and add them, face down, to the bottom of the shop card draw deck.
Deal four new cards to form the new stock for the shop.
Move your gnome timer two spaces.

6) Scout - take a card (1 week)

Scout around! You may find some paths, or even come across a nugget!

Draw a card from the travel card deck and move your gnome timer up one on the timing track.
Discarded travel cards can be shuffled to form a new draw deck if needed.
Hand size is only adjusted at the end of your turn - you may carry more cards until then.

7) Sorcerer's quest (0 weeks)

The Sorcerer finds gnomes amusing and likes nothing more than to send them on some ridiculous 'quest'. On reaching the Sorcerer's tower you may choose to accept one of his challenges:

Take one of his face up quest cards and place it face up in front of you.
Refill the taken quest from the draw pile (if possible).
You immediately gain the benefit of the quest (it is payment up front in Gnomeland). This is listed at the top of the card.
The quest has a requirement on it. Who knows why a sorcerer wants it done, but it probably does not make sense to argue. See below for details of the quests.
If you fail to carry out the quest by week 52 then there will be a penalty at the end of the game (5 or 10 brown gems). This is the amount you have to spend on a spell of invisibility to stop the Sorcerer from finding you!
You can only ever have one quest at a time. You cannot discard a quest that has been accepted (for complex contractual reasons - sorcerers have the best lawyers).
If a quest is completed the quest card is removed from in front of a player and is discarded. The player is now free to go to the Sorcerer and accept another quest.

Reading a quest card: The immediate reward is shown at the top (on the example card, take 5 brown gems, or equivalent from the supply). The requirement is shown in the middle (on the example card, the player's gnome must reach the very top space of Gnome Mountain). The penalty if not completed by game end is shown at the bottom (on the example card, minus 10 points).

Sorcerer's quest cards:

Reward: 1 item from Market Meadow Shop (excludes treasure). Quest: sell a yellow mushroom in Descina or Jafnea. Penalty: -5.
Reward: 1 item from Forest Fete Shop (excludes treasure). Quest: sell a yellow mushroom in Calvatia or Fuligo. Penalty: -5.
Reward: 3 brown gems. Quest: travel over the lake (by leaf boat or when frozen). Penalty: -5.
Reward: 2 brown gems. Quest: visit the gnome house of another player. Penalty: -5.
Reward: 1 item from Hillview Hut Shop (excludes treasure). Quest: sell a red mushroom in Grifola or Kolus. Penalty: -5.
Reward: 4 brown gems. Quest: sell a red mushroom in Exidea or Hydnum. Penalty: -5.

End of a Player's Turn

The timing track allows a player's gnome timer to move a maximum of 7 possible spaces.
A gnome can choose to do less than this - this may allow them to sleep and gain cards.
A player may not take an action that would cause their gnome timer to move above 7 (although they could still take actions that didn't cost any weeks, such as selling a mushroom or buying from a shop).

Example: Yellow's gnome timer has reached the end of the timing track. He may not take any more actions that would cause him to move the timer further.

D. Sleep (after all players have had a turn)

Once all players have taken their turn, gnomes with time in hand may sleep to gain cards:

The player whose gnome timer is furthest to the right along the timing track, and any player whose gnome timer is on the same space, does nothing - these are the exhausted gnome(s).
The player whose gnome timer is closest to the exhausted gnome(s) sleeps first (if there are two on the same space, the gnome timer on top goes first).
For each week of sleep (boy are gnomes deep sleepers!) they will be entitled to take cards from the dream cards (Gnomes are great problem solvers when they sleep).
It costs 1 sleep week to take the single card, 2 sleep weeks to take the two card pile and 3 sleep weeks for the three card pile.
A player can take from more than one pile if they are able (e.g. 4 rest weeks could take both pile 1 and pile 3).
Players may choose not to use all of their entitlement.
The player then moves their gnome timer along the timing track until it is on top of the exhausted gnome.
The dream cards are then replenished and the player next furthest along the timing track sleeps next.
This continues until all gnome timers are on top of the exhausted gnome.
The calendar timer is then moved to record the number of weeks that have passed - this is the same as the number that the exhausted gnome timers are on.
This may cause a season to change (see seasons).
The stack of gnome timer pieces are moved carefully back to the sand timer space of the timing track without changing their order.
The next round will begin with the gnome whose gnome timer is on the top of the pile, then the next gnome and so on.

Sleepy Time! (examples)

Yellow has taken the most time (six weeks) - he will not be able to sleep this round. Green has two weeks sleep before his timer reaches yellow. He uses this to take the second pile of dream cards. This costs 2 weeks and he moves his gnome timer accordingly. His timer is now on top of the exhausted yellow gnome timer, so his turn is over. He replenishes the two cards he removed from the display.
Red is next to go. She can take either pile 1 or 2 (she cannot take pile three as it costs 3 weeks). She decides to take pile 1, which costs one week. She cannot do anything with her other spare week as the next available pile costs 2 weeks. She moves her timer on to the top of the exhausted gnome timer and replenishes the card she took.
Blue is last to sleep. He could take pile 3, but decides to take piles 1 and 2 for a total of three weeks (1+2). All gnome timers are now together. The stack is moved back to the sand timer space (without changing the order). The calendar timer is moved on six weeks.

E. Hand Limit (how big is your rucksack)

After sleeping, gnomes now reduce the cards in their hand down to their hand limit. Excess cards are placed onto their respective discard piles. Hand limit depends on the size of their rucksack (4, 5 or 6). A hand consists of travel cards and/or treasure cards.

Note: Your rucksack shows how many cards you can carry over to the next round.

The next round is ready to begin.

F. Calendar Track (or 'metrognome'?)

When each round ends, the Calendar timer is moved.
If the Calendar timer moves into a different season, mushrooms may be removed or added to the game. They have either just grown or rotted away.
Rotten mushrooms are taken off the board and put to one side. They are also removed from players' baskets. (e.g. when the season track reaches number 25 then blue mushrooms are removed).
New mushrooms sprout up. The colour is indicated on the calendar track. A mushroom is placed on the board onto each corresponding mushroom symbol in a village or a gnome home (red mushroom icon means a red mushroom will grow there when the season timer reaches number 25).
From summer onwards (sun symbols), the frog becomes available for use.
In winter the ice comes...

Example: The Calendar timer needs to be moved six spaces. In doing so, the season changes from summer to autumn. Blue mushrooms are removed from the board and players' baskets. Red mushrooms are added to the board at any locations where they grow.

G. Winter Is Numbing

In winter the lake and river freeze. Use the frozen tokens you placed on the calendar track during set up.
Place a frozen token on the lake.
Place a frozen token on each river section that connects two locations (three in total).
Players can now move across/along a frozen lake or river to an adjoining location for the cost of 2 weeks without playing a card.
The Sorcerer's Tower has the winter tower tile placed on it. It now costs only 1 week to reach the tower (you can follow the snowy footprints of the sorcerer). No card is required.
Equipment cards with the winter icon are removed from shops and from players' displays.
The shop stock is replenished (if needed). Replenish one card for each shop, starting with Hillview Hut and working down (keep removing any drawn cards with the 'no winter' icons). Repeat this until all shops have 4 cards or the draw deck is exhausted.
Quests with the winter symbol are removed from the available quests on display. Replacement quest cards are drawn (if possible) from the draw pile.
Players' uncompleted quests are unaffected by winter and remain in their display.

Example (1): The Calendar timer moves into winter. After the yellow mushrooms have been removed, and the blue mushrooms put on, the frozen tokens and frozen tower are put onto the board.

Example (2): Any equipment with a 'no winter' symbol is removed from the game (shops and players' displays). Any quests at the Sorcerer's tower with a 'no winter' symbol are also discarded.

Example (3): Frozen tokens are placed on the river sections, one token between two locations (three sections in total). One token is placed onto the lake. The frozen tower tile is placed onto the board.

H. Game End (Gnome mercy)

The game finishes when the timer reaches number 52 on the calendar track.
The gnome who is highest up Gnome Mountain receives a white gem (or equivalent value of gems). Any other gnomes on the same level (snow, rock or grass) also receive a white gem.

Example: Red is highest up the mountain and gains a white gem. Yellow is on the same level and also gains a white gem. Blue is on a lower level and does not get any bonus.

Scoring

Points are scored as follows:

Gems score as their value (White = 3, Green = 2, Brown = 1).
Nuggets in the player's hand (1 point per card).
Golden mushroom token (8 points).
Treasure cards in hand (value shown at bottom of card).
Minus points for uncompleted quests.

The Gnome with the highest total is awarded the title of Gnome de Plume and declared the winner. In the event of a tie, the gnome with the greatest value of treasures wins. If equal, then highest on the mountain. Then value of gems. Then the player with the pointiest head.

Notes: Any treasure in a player's hand counts is added to their score. The value is shown at the bottom of the treasure card. Golden mushrooms, nuggets and gems are added. In this case, 8 for the golden mushroom and 9 for the gems and nugget (1+1+2+2+3). If a player has an uncompleted quest, this is deducted from their total.

I. Equipment Cards

Discarded shop items go into a shop item discard pile (unless they perished in winter).

Hill Boots (1 week) (discard in winter): travel over a mountain route (white) without playing a card. Move gnome timer one week.
Leaf Boat (2 weeks) (discard in winter): travel over water. From one lakeside location to another or from one riverside location to the next. No card required. Move gnome timer one week.
Canteen (1 week) (discard in winter): travel over a meadow route (yellow) without playing a card. Move gnome timer one week.
Spare Key (discard after use): works exactly the same as the tunnel key (see page 4).
Small / Large Rucksack (replaces current rucksack): allows a player to increase hand size to 5/6 respectively.
Short Axe (1 week) (discard in winter): travel over a forest route (brown) without playing a card. Move gnome timer one week.
Compass (1 week) (discard in winter): travel to or from the Sorcerer's Tower (black route) without playing a card. Move gnome timer one week.
Small / Large Basket (replaces current basket): allows a player to increase hand size to 5/6 respectively. (Transcribed as printed. The source gives the hand-size wording on the basket card as well as the rucksack card; this is not confirmed against the official print.)
Map (players hold a max. of two maps): allows a gnome to climb up or down levels on the mountain. Single and double route cards available (see page 6).

J. Game Variant

Ignore steps 17 and 18 of set-up and do the following instead:

Mix together 13 brown, 13 green and 13 clear gems. From this, randomly place 3 gems onto each village (A-L) and onto the Sorcerer's tower.